IUPUI begins 51st year with record freshman class

[Video: A picture of the IUPUI Campus Center appears. A red overlay is atop of the picture.]

[Words appear in the middle of the screen in all-uppercase: 2019 First-year Class]

[Video: A picture of a group of IUPUI students appears. Two are holding IUPUI flags. The group is in the stands of Carroll Stadium. A red overlay is atop of the picture.]

[Words appear in all-uppercase over the bottom half of the photo: This year,]

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[Words appear: 3,700+ new students will call IUPUI home.]

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[Video: A picture of four female students appears in the right half of the screen. All are African American. The women are posing in front of their student organization's booth at the IUPUI Involvement Expo. In the left half of the screen, text appears.]

[Words appear: 34% of first-year students are students of color.]

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[Words appear: The 2019 first-year class welcomes students from]

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[Words appear: 28 states, 51 countries, 89 counties]

[Video: A picture of two IUPUI students high-fiving appears. One student is a white male; the other is a white female. They are both wearing red IUPUI polo shirts and red sunglasses.]

[Video: A picture of a female student studying and doing homework at a table on campus appears in the left half of the screen. In the right half of the screen, white text appears on a red background.]

[Words appear: Average SAT score: 1108]

[Video: Three pictures appear consecutively: a group of three students working at the Involvement Expo in Sam H. Jones; a group of male students of color inside the IUPUI Campus Center; and IUPUI's two Jaguar mascots, Jawz and Jazzy.]

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[Words appear across the top and to the right: Welcome home, Class of 2023.]

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More than 4,300 freshmen begin class this week in Indianapolis, Columbus and Fort Wayne. Video by Samantha Thompson, Indiana University

Classrooms are filling up across IUPUI's campuses in Indianapolis, Columbus and Fort Wayne, highlighted by the largest freshman class in the university's history.

An estimated 4,319 beginning students are projected on the three campuses for the start of the school year, with the flagship Indianapolis campus leading the way with 3,777 students, according to preliminary estimates. All three campuses boast increased freshman enrollment from a year ago.

"We enjoyed a wonderful celebration of IUPUI's 50th anniversary during the 2018-19 academic year, and that momentum is continuing with our record freshman class," Chancellor Nasser H. Paydar said. "This diverse group will enhance IUPUI's status as a destination for the best students from across Indiana and around the world."

The freshman class has 1,400 students of color, which is 32.6 percent of the class; 1,280 of those students (33.9 percent of the class) are enrolled in Indianapolis. Both of those figures are records for the university. Students of color includes those who identify as African American, Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Native American, and two or more races.

The class boasts an average SAT score of 1102, with 68.4 percent of Indiana resident students having an honors high school diploma. IUPUI's freshmen hail from 91 of Indiana's 92 counties and 28 different states, plus Puerto Rico. The university's strong international contingent includes 52 countries represented in the new class.

IUPUI's total enrollment is projected at 30,068, with official enrollment figures to be compiled the week of Sept. 1.

Residents on the Indianapolis campus arrived last week and will participate in numerous Weeks of Welcome events over the next two weeks.